Lauren Bailey, sophomore women’s golf player, set a new school record with a score of 78 during the opening round of the Saginaw Valley State University Fall Invitational on Sept. 23.

Bailey, who set the previous record of 79 last year, said she was pleased.

“I was pretty happy with my performance that day and that I beat my record low from last year by one stroke, even though I planned to go lower,” Bailey said.

Head coach Randy Wexter said Bailey’s new record was no surprise.

“Lauren is a very hard worker and has a very high golf IQ. In the classroom and on the golf course, she is an extremely competitive person,” Wexter said.

Bailey said moving to Division II was not a concern to her.

“I wasn’t really concerned about playing DII. I felt pretty comfortable with how I played the first day and keeping up with the other girls in the tournament, ” Bailey said. “Nothing much has really changed with the way I practice. I’ve always worked hard on things I needed to improve on and strive for bigger goals.”

Wexter said this year four players have been added to the team and scores have gone down dramatically.

“As a second-year program, I didn’t really expect to finish at the top of the fields in Division II. As a young team we are progressing well. We keep trying to improve daily and with every tournament experience. I have high hopes for the future as our team settles into the GLIAC conference,” Wexter said. “This season already we have set a new team school record. So the future looks bright as we settle into the NCAA and Division II women’s golf.”

Wexter also said he thinks scores will continue to improve as the team gets used to new courses and traveling.

“The difference between Division II and the NAIA is our travel schedule and the level of competition. Now we travel to tournaments a day early. It gives us time to map out the course and come up with a game day strategy,” Wexter said.